‘Here you go. Please have some of this lavender tea we brewed for you, savior.’ The Father offered him.

‘Um, savior is a bit too much. Please just call me Hakyeon,’ he told the elder.

‘Hakyeon? Where have I heard such a familiar name before…’

‘It’s a common name,’ Hakyeon told the man knowing exactly why his name might sound familiar. ‘So, can you tell me more about how this town was saved from the darkness?’

‘It is quite a long story. It happened more than centuries ago. Our town, well… it’s a rather small but lively and familiar little place. We never had an actual governor and even when we did, it never really worked out for us since the beginning. Everyone around here is just like one large family so we facilitate ourselves and work together to survive. We are very satisfied and as long as we are happy, we are very much content. But at the same time… that makes us rather ignorant.’

‘How so?’

‘Our ancestors were once told by the prophecy that darkness would soon invade our small town but we did not listen. They thought about what are the possibilities of such an unfortunate event to befall us when we hold no significance in the world at all.’

‘Prophecy?’

‘To be exact, a group of boys who used to live here in this town. They used to help run the bakery down the street until after… well, after they sacrificed themselves for us.’

Hakyeon swallowed hard on his tea as he continued to hear of his story.

‘One day, a boy came up to us with his friends to warn us of the darkness from the Underworld surfacing onto our town in order to rule the realm of mortals. He warned us multiple times but our ancestors simply thought of it as a joke. Who would ever believe in Gods or demons when we’ve never even encountered them before? If they existed, why haven’t they ever heard of our poor men’s prayers and save us from many centuries of salvation? People began to lose their faith in the so-called Gods in the end, and stories became myths. Eventually, darkness had engulfed our town and the rest of the country before we could even do anything,’ the Father continued with a regretful expression from what had happened in the past even before his time.

‘And?’ Hakyeon grew even more intrigued to the story.

‘Despite how many times the boys had warned the town, no one listened to them. We continued our lives as if such a warning never existed until one night… the moon was completely covered and darkness swallowed our town. Many of citizens were kidnapped overnight by the darkness and demons from Hell would invade our homes. We all thought we were doomed due to our ignorance and powerless selves, our ancestors regretted greatly at never listening to those boys in the first place. But, they came back for us. They saved our town and fought hard to restore the once, peaceful days.’

The Father then walked Hakyeon to the main Chapel to show him something. He handed Hakyeon a sterling silver box with metal vine-like décor wrapped around it.

‘What is this?’ Hakyeon asked.

‘These are the two pieces of the Moon, in which were passed down by the almighty Gods in order to protect our village from the evil.’ The Father opened the lock on the box in order to show the town’s new savior.

‘Two? But I only see one…’

‘That’s because these two have become one. A full moon that is too bright for the darkness to walk our lands ever again.’

‘I see.’

‘There is also another piece of the Gods’ offering since that time as well. It is the Sun in which was given by the Heavens and now located in the northern cities to protect the upper half of the country.’

Hakyeon took the Moon within his palms gently and caressed the surface with a light touch. The Moon started to pulse while a warm and inviting light came from it.

‘Indeed, you are a God!’ The Father was surprised. ‘The Moon have never once glowed this brilliantly before, not after the death of the Demigod that saved us.’

‘Death? The Demigod…’ Hakyeon suddenly felt anxious.

So, the ‘me’ from the past died? How? Weren’t they Gods? Aren’t they immortal?

‘Yes. It was an unfortunate thing for both him and his friends. The six of them fought with all they could for this small little town in the middle of nowhere. They called it their home despite being the descendants of powerful Gods,’ the Father sighed.

Though none of the current citizens of Pinewoods have witnessed the events of the past with their own eyes, the stories of these heroes were passed on from one generation to the next. Each of them grew up with these stories and each felt ever more grateful for it because if it weren’t for these six saviors, their town would no longer exist.

As the Father continued to tell Hakyeon of the town’s past, he started to become much more familiar with what exactly happened and why the two Dark ones were banished in the first place.

~

Both the Dark Hakyeon and the Dark Taekwoon were too powerful to contain and their battles of the Underworld eventually carried onto the human realm. The Taekwoon and the Hakyeon back then, lived as humans in this small town while their shadows remained in the Underworld. They thought that the war between the two Dark beings would stay within the Underworld until eventually, the door that connected the two realms could no longer endure such powers.

The hatred and rage of the two Dark beings were tremendous.

Not only was the entire Underworld driven to chaos but it shook the Heavens as well.

Jaehwan who was the descendent of the Heavens at the time, though lost his powers as a God was eventually summoned back to his home in the warnings that darkness was breaking through the other realms. After so many millenniums of keeping their Godly existence hidden from humanity, even they could no longer remain still. If the darkness were to overtake the human world, the next victims would be those up in the sky.

They must do something.

Jaehwan eventually went back to Pinewoods and told his friends what was happening. They had once sealed away their powers as Gods in order to maintain control of themselves and live as normal human beings. But when the news hit, they did not have a choice.

The six of them debated for awhile of whether or not to warn the villagers about such a thing but Hakyeon insisted they did. But no one believed them.

As the six of them fell into a dilemma of what to do, darkness had already broken through the door and began to walk the lands.

They were at a dead end.

They had to reawaken their powers of who they once were in order to save not only their small town but also the world that was too ignorantly peaceful at the time. But in doing so, they also ended up sacrificing their lives.

The pieces of the Moon as well as the Sun were brought together in order to bring peace to humanity and seal away the darkness forever. Though the Gods refused desperately at first about giving up their heirloom, they saw that even they would become too powerless if the darkness took over the different worlds.

The six boys who lived in Pinewoods for a long time eventually revealed themselves the villagers of who they truly were. They fought day after day, night after night with the best of their abilities in the countless amounts of battles.

They fought against the two Dark ones who eventually brought their fight onto human grounds. In order to save the last bits of light in the world, the six of them had to go against the two Dark ones and banished them forever into Limbo.

Everyone thought that peace was finally brought back to the world but the battle itself, ended in demise for the town’s group of saviors. They lost their powers completely and eventually, the six of them died together on the day when they handed the Moon and the Sun to humanity.

‘Our town eventually built a monument for the six brave boys who protected our town and this world at that hill over there,’ the Father pointed out the window. ‘Although it has been centuries since it all happened, and although the rest of the world had forgotten already, our town will never forget.’

Hakyeon did not witness the story personally, nor did he know anything about his past life until recently but as the Father told him of what happened in the past, his tears began to fall.

~

The next morning came and Hakyeon woke up to the blinding sun that shined upon the town. As he opened the windows to view the small town, he could not believe that this was the same place that went through such a past. He was well aware that this was still a part of Dreamscape but he was thankful as well to be able to hear the truth of the past.

Because I was once that Hakyeon who was a Demigod, and his reincarnation, is that why I have memories of this place and its story even in my dreams? Even after all the countless rebirths, will I always remember this past somewhere deep inside of my heart?

Hakyeon decided to take a stroll around town to witness its long-lasting history and to make sure everything was restored to normal again. He was able to bring the rain again to this town because of his abilities inside of Dreamscape. The towns folks were all busy early in the morning for the past several days in order to restore their farms and resources.

After a long walk, Hakyeon decided that there was one more place he must visit before he leaves this ‘memory’.

The monument of the six heroes of Pinewoods.

‘Phew!’ Hakyeon huffed as he walked a long time up the steep hills to the monument. It was a hill where the Water Mill could no longer run but the place was still well-kept and cleaned.

He found the large willow tree behind the Water Mill and saw flowers offered underneath it. As he approached, he saw the six tombstones that laid beneath the tree.

For a split second, it almost frightened Hakyeon a bit to walk near it as these were the six tombstones that were of him and s’ previous lives. Though the names on these tombs were no longer legible, he knew right away the names that were engraved on it.

‘We’ve really come a long way haven’t we?’ Hakyeon said as he swiped the tops of the tombstones from the fallen leaves. ‘Even after so long, the six of us are still together, huh?’

Hakyeon honestly could not believe that him and s had such a fate together. As if, fate brought them together once again as a group called VIXX.

There is no such thing in the world as coincidence. Only fate.

Looking at the monument made Hakyeon miss s even more. He was feeling lonely without s by his side and unable to share the story he had just heard of their previous lives. But as he looked at the tombstones and the small town of Pinewoods one more time, he finally made up his mind.

He could no longer run away.

He need his answers from his lifelong friend. He needs to know exactly what Taekwoon would trap him inside of Dreamscape in the first place when the latter was so desperate to saving him initially.

But there is one final question in which Hakyeon did not understand.

Why did the Taekwoon and the Hakyeon of that time not kill their Dark ones but simply banish them to Limbo? Were they unable to foretell of the possibility that both the Dark Hakyeon and the Dark Taekwoon would emerge from Limbo and walk the lands again?

~

‘Please stay still Hakyeon-ah,’ the stylist told him. ‘Aren’t you trembling a lot? It’s like you’re nervous for your debut or something. Where did our confident Hakyeonnie go?’

‘You can’t blame him noona. It’s been awhile,’ Hyuk laughed so that the staffs wouldn’t be suspicious of the Dark Hakyeon.

‘Um, yeah. Sorry.’ Hakyeon smiled awkwardly.

After a long discussion amongst themselves and after the Dark Hakyeon had left the hospital, the day for their comeback was drawing near.

Luckily for Hakyeon, his wounds healed rather fast so they were able to resume their plans for the comeback right away.

‘Don’t push yourself too hard okay? You can rely on us when you need to and if you need to rest, tell us,’ Hongbin said.

‘Mhmm. Thanks.’

Though there was a huge argument of whether or not to proceed with this comeback, in the end, all the members agreed that the six of them will participate in the first part of Conception – ‘Zelos’.

Yes, even with the Dark Taekwoon.

The members were still wary of course, when it comes to being around the Dark Taekwoon but from what they have witnessed, he had yet to do anything to them except actually helping them during the preparations.

He played the role of VIXX’s ‘Jung Taekwoon’ perfectly but at the same time, the members who watched the Dark one were confused from time to time.

As if, the Dark Taekwoon was really enjoying his life as an idol.

‘Why won’t you just be truthful to me?’ the Dark Hakyeon asked the Dark Taekwoon as the two stood next to one another and waiting for their solo scenes for the music video. ‘You’re hiding something aren’t you? And I’m the only one who doesn’t know about it…’

The Dark Hakyeon thought it was rather strange at how accepting the other members have become into taking in the Dark Taekwoon. Even Hongbin who was strongly against it in the beginning became rather quiet now when it comes to this Taekwoon. He knows that the rest of them knows about something in which only he doesn’t but he didn’t want to pressure the boys in telling him what it was or what the Dark Taekwoon could have possibly told them.

‘Have I done anything towards them this entire time?’ the Dark Taekwoon asked back while looking straight at Hakyeon’s eyes.

It’s because you haven’t, that’s why it’s even more suspicious…

The Dark Hakyeon shook his head.

‘Then, it’s fine isn’t it? Why must you question everything I do?’ the other changed the interrogation towards Hakyeon instead.

‘Because everything you have ever done is a mystery and unpredictable. One minute you’re using me to kill them all and next, you’re here as an idol to save this group from possibly disbanding? You’re even attending vocal lessons with Jaehwan!’

Taekwoon went silent. He did not speak another word and walked away onto the set after being called.

He have always been the one to make the rules and punish those that broke it. But right now, he was quietly listening and obeying every command the music video director gave him. He almost looked innocent with his fringes down and colorful outfit on.

Hakyeon have never seen this side of the Dark Taekwoon.

After the filming, the members were on a break. It was rather strange that all six of them were sitting together having lunch though. Of course, if they were the original six members of the group, it would be normal to do something like this, but right now, that was not the case.

It wasn’t like they could eat separately either. They were still the six of VIXX in front of the many other eyes in the room. Though they were still rather awkward to converse to one another while the Dark Taekwoon was present, they tried their best to show that nothing was wrong.

As they continued their meal, the Dark Hakyeon noticed something rather strange. He was frightened the instant he saw it happen but no one else noticed it. Everyone was in their own world and talking amongst themselves to notice it.

But the Dark Hakyeon could not take his eyes off the other who was sitting right across from him. He could feel his hands shake from the sight and the anxiety made him lose his appetite.

Is this the reason why the members aren’t saying anything? Is that why he hasn’t tried anything to us this entire time?

Hakyeon could not stop looking across from him. The Dark Hakyeon almost felt his heart ache a bit from what had just happened but the other did not even notice it.

Is this why you came here to the mortal realm?

* * * * * * A/N * * * * * *

Are you curious about what's happening?!?! Dun dun dun~ 

As the story unfolds in this chapter about what happened in the past, another bonus story is now up on it's prequel - The World of Us - 

If you are curious about the true after story of what happens to the Hakyeon and Taekwoon of the previous lives after the battle with the darkness, please go here --> [the AFTER STORY]: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1164568/48